*** Commission To Study Biker-Skater Mix ***

Medford, Oregon -- 05/18/2006
After hearing stories that freestyle bicyclists have nowhere to go but the streets — and getting an earful about hostility
between bike riders and skateboarders — the Medford Parks and Recreation Commission said it would hold a study session
this summer to explore whether bicyclists should be allowed at the Bear Creek skate park.

After an hour of public hearing Tuesday, the commission moved to hold a study session "with less emotion and more
facts" by August to examine all options — including mixed use, a continued bike ban or creation of a bike park, said
commissioner Colleen McCaffrey.

"We are not going to take this lightly," she said.

The unusually large crowd of about 40, with skaters segregating themselves in back rows, split on the issue
of whether bikers and skaters can get along in the same park.

"If they all ride together — with no time management alternating schedules of use, then the guys will work it
out, just like they have in Ashland, Talent and White City, where bikers and skaters are together," said
Nathan Bailey, who operates a Campus Life skate park in Eagle Point.

Critics of mixed use charge that faster, heavier bikes collide with skaters, but Bailey said that rarely happens
at his park. The hostilities between skaters and bicyclists in Medford, he added, "are created by saying you can't
do this or that, you can't be here. White City doesn't have that problem."

Skaters, represented by Rita Allred, co-owner of Jack's Board Shop, urged commissioners to avoid mixed use,
adding, "It was designed as a skateboard park. Why change the rules to fit someone else who needs to bike
there? If they want a park, they should get together and build one." Skaters applauded loudly.

Though banned from the Bear Creek skate park, bike riders come anyway, and cause damage to cement edges,
said her daughter, Patricia Allred.

Bailey denied this, inviting commissioners to inspect his low-end plywood ramps and half-pipes, used by skaters
and bike riders for almost two years and "they're not even touched."

Bicyclist John Steinberg of Talent agreed, saying that the Talent park was built with cheaper materials than Medford's,
yet is "not in bad shape." In any case, he added, bikers and skaters, if not segregated, "get along without problems" and
chip in money and labor toward repairs.

Richard Hawkins of Medford, a bicyclist who carried a skateboard, urged commissioners to stop "dividing the park
up," with police "harassing" kids — kicking out bikers and ticketing skaters for not having helmets.

"It's getting pretty crazy. We need to relieve the pressure. It's pitting people against each other. The fence is not good.

It says 'no' to bikers," said Hawkins, painting a contrasting picture of camaraderie at mixed use parks. "Kids thrive off
competition, seeing someone else do a 360 degree turn in the air. We need an open township, not a fortress that
divides people."

The meeting was dotted with stories of hostility, rudeness and misunderstandings between the two groups.

"If you allow bikers in, there will be drama and violence."

It happens every time bikers come in. They have no respect and that's why people get angry," said skater Blaine Castell
of Medford. "They should build their own park." Skater Mike Metcalf of Medford said when skaters cleaned the park after
a competition, bikers threw trash and rocks all over it, sprayed graffiti and cut fences.

Sims Cycle owner Chris Haynes told commissioners that expensive resources like the skate park should be shared,
thus maximizing their value and minimizing costs.

posted by pdxbmx @ 11:55 PM